Mindfulness

‘Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul‘ – Friedrich Froebel

After lunch each day, Aurora children enjoy a rest and a Mindfulness experience.

Mindfulness is a whole body-mind state of awareness that involves ‘tuning in’ to the present moment with openness and curiosity.

It’s about focusing attention on the present rather than thinking about the past or worrying about the future – often our brain’s default mode.

We ask each child to shut their eyes, breathe and think about how their feet touch the ground. Then we direct them to think about their legs, knees, stomach, mouth, nose, eyes and head.

Afterwards, we ask them to take a big breath and open their eyes, stand up and have a big stretch.

Why practise being mindful?

Research shows mindfulness training increases connectivity in the frontal lobe of the brain, which is linked to improved attention, memory processing and decision making abilities.

Mindfulness training involves tuning in to internal and external experiences with curiosity resulting in increased self-awareness, social awareness, and self-confidence.

Mindfulness training increases children’s ability to self-regulate their emotions, especially difficult emotions such as fear and anger, through breathing and other grounding techniques.

Mindfulness has been shown to improve empathy or the ability to understand what another person is thinking or feeling, which improves children’s awareness of others and helps them to build positive relationships.